Guardian Angels Catholic Church sits on Preston Highway in Louisville, Kentucky, directly across from the large American flag that marks the neighborhood, and it is known for one deliberate conviction: the guardian angels should be honored where others might neglect that important work. The parish greets visitors with the Angel of God prayer and then explains from Scripture who the angels are and what they do for people. Around that single idea sit weekday and weekend Masses, a steady rhythm of confession, a Wednesday Scripture study, and a long archive of homilies by the parish's priest, Fr. Jeffrey P. Leger.
Angels as Intermediaries Between God and People
The parish takes seriously the traditional teaching that angels are spiritual beings of pure intellect without physical bodies, and that they act as intermediaries between God and human beings. The letter to the Hebrews supplies the key text: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). Their work, the parish explains, is to lead people to the Kingdom of Heaven when they are willing to be led.
Guardian angels appear throughout the Bible in ways the parish is glad to recall. In the Old Testament they acted as the executors of God's wrath against the cities of the plain, and they delivered Lot from danger. In Exodus 32:34 God tells Moses that "my angel shall go before you," and Psalm 90:11 says that God has "given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all thy ways." Jesus Himself spoke of them when He warned against despising the little ones, saying that "their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). A guardian angel ministered to Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, and a guardian angel delivered St. Peter from prison.
The people of Guardian Angels are taught, too, about the reach of this care. Guardian angels can act upon the senses and the imagination, but not directly upon the will, except by working through the intellect. They are not separated from people after death but remain with them in heaven. The parish quotes St. Jerome on the dignity of every person: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." The prayer that frames the parish's welcome asks that these angels keep people from sin that mars the dignity God gave them and imperils their immortal souls.
From the Durrett High School Cafeteria to a Church on Preston Highway
Guardian Angels Parish was canonically established on July 23, 1957, by Archbishop John A. Floersh, and Fr. Dominic Altieri was appointed the first pastor that August. While the church building was still under construction, Masses were celebrated in September in the Durrett High School cafeteria. The cornerstone was laid in June 1958, the first Mass in the new church was offered on October 26, 1958, and Archbishop Floersh blessed the building in January 1959.
A school grew up alongside the parish. Guardian Angels School opened in 1958 with grades one through eight and was served by the Sisters of Loretto. In 1990 the school was merged with St. Ignatius and Resurrection Schools to form Thomas Merton Academy. Guardian Angels first housed grades four through eight of the regional school and then all grades, until Thomas Merton closed in 2003.
As the school years passed, the buildings changed purpose. In 1971 the convent was remodeled for use as the rectory and parish offices, and the previous rectory became a meeting hall. Further improvements to the school and church followed over the next ten years. In 1996 Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly, O.P., invited the Resurrectionist Fathers to staff the parish. To finance operations, the parish holds five major annual activities in which large numbers of parishioners contribute services.
Mass Across the Week at 6000 Preston Hwy
Mass is celebrated six days a week at Guardian Angels. Tuesday and Thursday Masses are at noon, Wednesday and Friday Masses are at 6:00 PM, and Saturday has an 8:30 AM Mass followed by a 4:00 PM Vigil Mass of Anticipation. Sunday Mass is at 10:00 AM. The church is easy to locate on Preston Highway, directly across from the large American flag.
The parish office keeps main office hours on Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and the main telephone line is (502) 968-5421. The parish also lists a fax line at (502) 962-1080 and a separate cafeteria number at (502) 964-9072. Email reaches the parish at angelguardian6000@proton.me, and weekly parish bulletins can be signed up for through DiscoverMass. The congregation also gathers on Facebook.
Confession Before Mass, Six Days a Week
Fr. Leger makes the sacrament of Confession available on a schedule that brackets the parish's Masses: Tuesday from 11:30 to 11:50 AM, Wednesday from 5:30 to 5:50 PM, Thursday from 11:30 to 11:50 AM, Friday from 5:30 to 5:50 PM, and Saturday from 8:00 to 8:20 AM, with an additional Saturday afternoon session from 3:00 to 3:40 PM.
The parish teaches the full form of the sacrament, beginning with the words "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned," and a confession that names how long it has been since the last confession and whether absolution was received and the penance performed. All mortal sins must be confessed for a good confession, while venial sins may also be confessed and are described as beneficial on a spiritual level. Mortal sin requires three things: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent.
After the sins are told, the priest may offer words of advice and gives a penance, and the penitent says an act of contrition before receiving absolution. The parish includes the traditional act of contrition in full: "O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art so good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen." Before leaving, penitents are taught to thank the priest.
The Seven Sacraments and the Grace They Give
Everything at Guardian Angels is grounded in the seven sacraments, taught as outward signs made by Jesus Christ that give grace, with each sacrament a direct encounter with Christ. The church lists them as Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, Penance-Confession, Extreme Unction or Anointing of the Sick, Holy Matrimony, and Holy Orders. Traditionally, Baptism and Penance are called sacraments of the dead because their chief purpose is to give the supernatural life of sanctifying grace to souls spiritually dead through sin. Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony are called sacraments of the living because they chiefly increase grace in souls already alive with sanctifying grace.
Baptism
Baptism is the sacrament that makes a person a Christian and a member of the Catholic Church and opens the way to the other sacraments. It takes away all sin, original, venial, and mortal; it puts sanctifying grace into the soul for the first time; and it brings the Holy Spirit to dwell there. Baptism is administered by pouring water over the forehead while saying, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." The person baptized takes the name of a saint, whose prayerful support and example are to guide a life well lived. A sponsor, who must be a good Catholic of at least fourteen years old, is present to see that the godchild stays faithful to religious duties. Baptisms are celebrated on Sundays after the 10:00 AM Mass.
Confirmation
Confirmation completes and perfects the Christian life begun in Baptism, and the Holy Spirit comes into the soul with the seven gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. The confirmation sponsor cannot be the same person as the baptism sponsor, and should be a confirmed Catholic who tries to lead others in the faith. Confirmation is usually administered by the bishop, who lays hands over those to be confirmed and anoints each forehead with holy chrism, saying, "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit." Chrism is a mixture of olive oil and balm consecrated by the bishop on Holy Thursday, and it symbolizes the strength received.
The Holy Eucharist
The parish teaches that in the Holy Eucharist Jesus Christ is really and physically present under the appearances of bread and wine, and that the sacrament was instituted at the Last Supper when Jesus said, "Do this in memory of me." The priest changes the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. To receive Holy Communion worthily, a person must be a baptized Catholic, free of mortal sin, and observing a fast of one hour before reception, with no solid food, including candy, mints, or chewing gum, and no drink except water. Catholics are required to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season.
The parish lists what Communion accomplishes: sanctifying grace grows, sinful inclinations are weakened, and Communion is food for the soul, a promise of resurrection, and a help in loving God and obeying His laws. After receiving, the parish asks people to spend some time praying to the Lord, adoring Him, thanking Him, and asking His help.
Anointing of the Sick
The Anointing of the Sick gives health and strength to the soul and sometimes to the body for those who are seriously ill or in danger of death. The parish points to the Catechism of the Catholic Church to emphasize that this is not a sacrament only for those at the point of death, and that the fitting time to receive it arrives as soon as someone is in danger of death from sickness or old age. The priest prays over the person and anoints the forehead and hands with holy oil in the form of a cross, saying, "Through this holy anointing, may the Lord help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit; may the Lord free you from your sins and raise you up." The parish also notes that it is prudent to receive the anointing before serious operations, and that families may contact the parish on behalf of a loved one who is seriously ill or near death.
Holy Matrimony
Marriage, taught as Jesus Christ raising to the dignity of a sacrament the lawful union of a Christian man and a woman, is described as an indissoluble union until death that grows sanctifying grace in the souls of the spouses and gives them special help in the duties and difficulties of married life. A Catholic marriage requires a priest and two witnesses. For a wedding at Guardian Angels, the couple must be registered and active parishioners for at least one year, marriage preparation begins no later than six months before the scheduled wedding, and all arrangements must be approved by the pastor.
Wednesday Scripture Study and Parish Life
The parish's weekly meeting is Scripture Study on Wednesday at 7:00 PM. Beyond the liturgy and the sacraments, the life of the parish runs on volunteer effort: five major annual activities are held each year to finance the parish's operations, and large numbers of parishioners contribute services to them.
Fr. Leger's Homilies and a Friday Radio Program
Fr. Jeffrey P. Leger, the parish's priest, was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 1997, and celebrated his Silver Jubilee on May 22, 2022. His homilies are kept in a large audio archive that reaches back to 2016, including recordings on the guardian angels themselves such as "What Are Angels?" and "Choirs of Angels." The archive follows the liturgical year, with entries for the Sundays of Ordinary Time, the weeks of Advent and Lent, and feasts such as the Nativity of Our Lord, Christ the King, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and the Feast of the Guardian Angels. The homilies are available at Fr. Leger's homily archive.
Fr. Leger also shares a weekly Catholic radio program, "Wise as Serpents," with Vince Hueser, broadcast on WLCR AM 1040 on Friday afternoons at 4:00 PM.
A Parish That Keeps Its Angels Close
Guardian Angels Catholic Church keeps the shape of a parish built around the angels it chose to honor. Its week is marked by Mass on six days, confession around each of them, and a Wednesday Scripture study; its sacraments are taught in detail; and its people are asked to pray the Angel of God each day, asking that the angels commissioned to guard them keep them from sin. That work continues at 6000 Preston Hwy in Louisville, where the parish welcomes those who come to Mass and to the sacraments it places at the center of its common life.